Thursday, October 21, 2010

For the past week, each night before I go bed I ask myself "Are you satisfied with how you used your time today?" and the answer 100% of the time is NO. Yet the next day, the same pattern gets repeated and it's a cycle. It's so easy to waste time for me, like it is to waste money. I am working on handling my time and know that there are things that I need to sacrifice. That should be worth the sacrifice!

I spend way too much time on facebook, reading blogs, reading a bunch of garbage online, doing the same mundane things over, and just find myself being BORED. It doesn't mean that it's bad doing these things, but it's best to do it in moderation, I understand that we don't always need everything to be productive every minute of the day. Downtime is always good too, even if that means going on Facebook to relax?

I was scrummaging for my planner yesterday and I found it. I need to put that thing to good use, I haven't used it since August! I also want to buy another new planner I'd enjoy writing in. Suggestions? Or am I just wasting my money?

I'm really picky and it has to be something I'd enjoy writing in. I've had countless of journals (more than five), but the moleskin that I recently purchased has been my favorite and I always want to write in it.

I've also been contemplating on doing a media cleanse with a few exceptions, so we'll see how that goes. I don't want to, but I should.

- After class this morning, I was sooo starved that I ditched my biology class and went to eat Pho (Vietnamese beef noodle). I was so starved that I couldn't concentrate, time went by soooo s-l-o-w-l-y in my stat class. I figured I'd be miserable if I went to my biology class, plus I have an 88% so I'm not close to failing :o)

When I was finished, I found out that there has to be a minimum charge of $10 on the card?! then I wished I had gone to class or at least got a bagel instead. Darn it for trying to save money! I HAD to buy a $3 drink and it wasn't even good. Karma right there.

***blogger is being a butt-face and not letting me upload pictures. I am definately switching to WordPress, I made an account, I just need help figuring out some shtuff! I think I'll call it a night.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Yes,tonight I ate one of the most delicious pizza ever, and it is from a chain. gasp! Round Table Pizza to be precise.

I've never had Round Table Pizza until tonight, and what made it even more special was that I got to share that experience with such an amazing friend.

Let me tell you about the pizza, first of all I wasn't even hungry, so that's a good place to start. You know why? because when you are starving, everything literally tastes good and there's hardly any objectivity. But I wasn't hungry, and my stomach was hurting prior. But when I took my first bite. Oh my word! delicious!

I lovedddd the garlic chicken, my favorite. The chicken was moist and flavorful and the green onions made the pizza taste fresh.

I usually don't order pepperoni pizzas because usually the pepperoni is overpowering and salty, but these were thin slices of salami and pepperoni. It was the bomb.

Warning: this is a long read:

---I shared my experience with such a great person, Sean B. He is the president of iaomai medical outreach, so please check it out! and if it speaks to your heart, donate to their team because it is such a powerful cause. Sean told me a few stories about his ministry and I was so blown away.

- Did you know that in some parts of the third-world country, when you have any disability, passerbys who pass near villages will literally abuse or KILL that person? it's so horrible. Sean explained to me that the parents of a nine year old boy had down-syndrome and was also blind, his parents had major protecting to do but they can only do so much. When Seans ministry came to help the little boy, they took him to the clinic and prayed that this kid would have cataracts in his eyes because WITH cataracts, you can perform surgery and hope for a miracle. He didn't have any.

But then later, an eye doctor came and put the strongest prescription glasses on him. Then suddenly he was reaching for his parents. What a miracle, this boy can finally see! Sean even showed me a picture of this little boy. Sean explained to me how stupid of them for praying that this kid would have cataracts, when really...they should've prayed that this boy would be able to have vision.

- Prior to our meeting, I haven't spoken to Sean in four years. FOUR years! Out of those four years, I've gone through phone number changes, but I've always managed to keep his number in my contacts despite the fact that I haven't spoken to him. Well out of the blue I texted him because I was going through some personal struggles, a somewhat identity crisis. He answered and here we are eating pizza. I couldn't believe he was sitting in front of me.

He also bought me a book before we ate, called Captivating by John & Staci Eldredge. So I can't wait to dig into it. Have you heard of it?

Thank God for technology. He is such a great friend, despite the fact that I haven't seen him in four years, he took time out of his busy schedule to see me and help me, for that I am so thankful. He is so good with his words when it comes to giving me guidance. I've learned new things about him and I am also proud and admire him in how far he's come throughout his journey.

oh geez, I am bragging here aren't I??! But seeing him tonight has started of a new page of a chapter in my life. And after I post this blog, I am going to write about it tonight in my journal to reflect. Obviously some things need to be kept private, but if you'd like to know more, shoot me an email!

I love writing in my new moleskin journal! I bought it a few days ago to jot down my thoughts and feelings to help me stay focused. I bought the green one :o) It's so flexible, thin, and light to carry around.

I also attempted to make chocolate protein brownies off of Jamie Easons recipe, but it was a total flop! But it smelled delicious. sigh. I doubled the recipe and added a few tweaks, but it came out tasting like card board with a horrible after taste. I was mad that I wasted six eggs due to the process.

Do you write in a journal?

﻿

Again, check out Seans Medical Outreach, if you know any medical professionals or volunteers who would be interested in helping the unserved, or you can donate here. Pass the info!

Monday, October 18, 2010

**Also it's that time again for a CSN review. CSN sells an Ottoman coffee table that you should definately check out.

I have been on such a coffee kick lately (I bought coffee almost everyday this week, shame on me!) but not only does CSN sell cookware, shoes, stools, coffee tables. I will be reviewing one of their products, and I am in some need help! What would you buy from their store?**

IAnyway, I guess my post title is a hit or miss, unless you know what I'm relating it to. If you're lost I was referring to Willow Smiths Whip My Hair. Daughter to the handsome Will Smith. To be honest, I feel weird listening to it, because I can't believe she's 9?! Will they play this at the club or what?

Last last Friday Jasmine and I made cheesecake. From my last post, I bought ingredients to make cookies, which we spontaneously used for the crust. Think BJ's Pazookie! Which I've never had, but the calorie content scares me. Which is odd of me to say because I think this recipe I am about to show you is even more detrimental to your health. Rule #32 according to Zombieland (the movie)...Gotta enjoy the little things in life right?

To make the dough, I used BethT's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

This recipe required 14 Tbsp of butter. Kill me now. The key technique in making this cookie is to brown the butter, unfortunately our oven did not work. So I found a simple short cut. Enter the mircowave, one of the greatest inventions ever.

Honestly, I would've preferred browning the butter via stove. It took 10-12 minutes (give or take) to brown the butter with the microwave. I mircowaved it in one minute increments to prevent any burns.

It yielded these results

The best part, chocolate chips. I measured my chocolate chips according to the recipe, but then I said "screw it!" and dumped the whole thing. No regrets, sometimes it's okay to break the rules when you know it's not gonna hurt somebody :oP

I seperated the dough in freezer bags, I figured I'd want cookies on a rainy day (which happened to be yesterday).

Then it was off to Jasmines house. I've never actually hung out with Jasmine before, so it was fun to bond over baking, which is something we enjoy doing. I've never made cheesecake before, so I was super excited to watch the process.

First we formed a cookie crust on a pie pan, then we baked it at 375F until it looked just about right (slightly undercooked) It came out poofy at the beginning and we were worried, but as time passed, it deflated.

You can use any cheesecake recipe you find and customize your own flavors.

I got to use a hand-held mixer, which I got excitingly stupid about. I've never used a hand-held mixer, it DOES make mixing so much easier! No duhr.

We seperated and added cocoa power, bananas, and white chocolate as bases for our cheesecake.

A cool technique that I learned was you don't need extravagant tools to add simple touches. A pasta noodle simply works out in making swirly designs.

We used chocolate cookies as crusts for our muffin shaped cheesecake. Just add cookie crumbs and melted butter (seriously, more butter!)

Our cookie pie came out of the oven looking like this. I love how I get a taste of chocolate chips after each bite. It is seriously more chocolatey and cookie tasting than it looks.

After refridgerating our cheesecake, we went to the gym together and then went our seperate ways until we could meet up and eat it. But I accidently feel asleep and woke up at 1am! Good thing Jasmine is a night-owl, because I came over right afterwards.

Eating cheesecake at 1:30 in the morning is a bad idea, depending on how you feel in the morning.

We feasted and watched the latest episode of Glee and Raising Hope. Raising Hope is such a cute and funny show! You should check it out on Hulu.com, the dialogue definately coincides with my sense of humor.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Before, homework would come first and then blogging. Tonight is a different story, and I am crazy to put off homework til after midnight. I guess I don't learn my lesson when I wake up wishing I had slept earlier that night. You live and sometimes never learn.

Tonight I met with my lovely friends whom I've known way back from elementry and middle school. We decided to eat at a local vietnamese restuarant.

I'll leave you with lots of pictures and a few words.

Annnnnnd my awesome dish which I will for sure get next time, beats my usual order of pho (beef noodle soup)

Andrew (btw you should totally check out his youtube channel) was totally making fun of me because I was smiling as I was snapping a photo of my food. Which I am positive I always do?!

Afterwards we had met up with Sandy (another childhood friend) and chatted while Sandy and I ate frozen yogurt. SERIOUSLY THE WORST FROZEN YOGURT EVER. Yuck, it tasted like sour cream. Needless to say I didn't finish it.

Of course we head over to a taco shop (this night is just full of eats no?) to meet Randys (middle school buddy) brother and friend.

I decided now was a good time to go shopping for ingredients since I had already eatten, the grocery store took only several minutes to walk to.

Monday, October 11, 2010

I am fortunate to have friends who will stop over voluntarily and bring me food (see below) and Pumpkin beer. What? PUMPKIN BEER?! How lucky am I? Unfortunately I can't drink tonight because I have lotsa studying to get done. Gotta be coherent.

Last week, I had a sudden urge to keep myself organized. I think it's so fun to make To-Do lists, I just like the sense of accomplishment when I can cross off my agenda. I went to an awesome Japanese store the other day and found these cute note cards for $1.89, score.

It's such a perfect size to study on the go without having to fumble around with loose index cards. Along with that, I bought a pen that is .39 in thickness so that it would be easier to fit my writing in such a small card. I am happy with that purchase. I'm thinking of buying more for future use.

Also I downloaded a cool app, the Google Calendar organizer. It's so fun to type out and color coordinate everything. Pros: You can add voice memos, pictures, smiley face, and doodle symbols.

The Con: When my professor gives us homework, I think it'd be hard for them to distinguish texting on my phone vs. typing the homework lessons on my phone. I wish it had more smiley face options! "Invite someone to porn debate?" saaayyy what?!

No, it wasn't anything crazy. My church opened its home to host a debate on porn, it was a packed house full of a lot of young people. It was a pretty interesting experience. Did you know that before Ron Jeremy's porn career, he held a Bachelors in art and theatre and a Masters degree in Special Education? who knew. If you don't know who Ron Jeremy is, look him up. Craig Gross was also part of the debate. He and Ron argued out why they were for and against pornography. If you want to know about the story behind XXX Ministry, click here.That was my Saturday.

After church yesterday, two friends and I ventured out to Tender Greens. I ordered Roasted Chicken and it came with yukon mashed potatoes, bread, and an arugula salad with tomatoes and vinegrette. The tomatoes were amazing, and I saved the best for last: mashed potatoes and some skin. mmmm

Tonight, I was starvin' marvin. hangryyyy! But my friends saved the day when they texted and asked if I wanted food they didn't finish from a resturant. I obliged. Along with Pumpkin Beeeeer. I am lucky blessed. I love pumpkin.